Producers behind Broadway's beleaguered Spider-Man musical made the difficult decision to close the show after a series of onstage injuries left them unable to obtain the necessary insurance. Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark, which features a score by U2 stars Bono and The Edge, opened in June, 2011 after months of delays and setbacks, including the exit of director/writer Julie Taymor.
A number of castmembers also sustained nasty injuries during previews, including Spider-Man stunt double Kevin Aubin, who broke both wrists, actress Natalie Mendoza, who left the show after suffering concussion, and Christopher Tierney, who underwent back surgery and months of rehabilitation after a serious stage fall.
Producers recently announced the curtain will fall on the musical in January (14), and producer Michael Cohl has now revealed insurance issues are to blame for the closure, telling the New York Post, "We don't have injury insurance, so we have to close the show," while jokingly referencing U.S. President Barack Obama's healthcare reforms by adding, "We tried to get on the website for Obamacare, but we couldn't."
However, Cohl is convinced the musical, which holds the title of Broadway's most expensive production, will eventually be a huge success as bosses plan to move the show to Las Vegas.
He adds, "I guess we'll call the money we spent in New York 'research and development'... I think we've established a really good brand that will be even better the second, the third, the fourth time out."

While recent animated blockbusters have aimed to viewers of all ages starting with fantastical concepts and breathtaking visuals but tackling complex emotional issues along the way Ice Age: Continental Drift is crafted especially for the wee ones — and it works. Venturing back to prehistoric times once again the fourth Ice Age film paints broad strokes on the theme of familial relationships throwing in plenty of physical comedy along the way. The movie isn't that far off from one of the many Land Before Time direct-to-video sequels: not particularly innovative or necessary but harmless thrilling fun for anyone with a sense of humor. Unless they have a particular distaste for wooly mammoths the kids will love it.
Ice Age: Continental Drift continues to snowball its cartoon roster bringing back the original film's trio (Ray Romano as Manny the Mammoth Denis Leary as Diego the Sabertooth Tiger and John Leguizamo as Sid the Sloth) new faces acquired over the course of the franchise (Queen Latifah as Manny's wife Ellie) and a handful of new characters to spice things up everyone from Nicki Minaj as Manny's daughter Steffie to Wanda Sykes as Sid's wily grandma. The whole gang is living a pleasant existence as a herd with Manny's biggest problem being playing overbearing dad to the rebellious daughter. Teen mammoths they always want to go out and play by the waterfall! Whippersnappers.
The main thrust of the film comes when Scratch the Rat (whose silent comedy routines in the vein of Tex Avery/WB cartoons continue to be the series highlight) accidentally cracks the singular continent Pangea into the world we know today. Manny Diego and Sid find themselves stranded on an iceberg once again forced on a road trip journey of survival. The rest of the herd embarks to meet them giving Steffie time to realize the true meaning of friendship with help from her mole pal Louis (Josh Gad).
The ham-handed lessons may drag for those who've passed Kindergarten but Ice Age: Continental Drift is a lot of fun when the main gang crosses paths with a group of villainous pirates. (Back then monkeys rabbits and seals were hitting the high seas together pillaging via boat-shaped icebergs. Obviously.) Quickly Ice Age becomes an old school pirate adventure complete with maritime navigation buried treasure and sword fights. Gut (Peter Dinklage) an evil ape with a deadly... fingernail leads the evil-doers who pose an entertaining threat for the familiar bunch. Jennifer Lopez pops by as Gut's second-in-command Shira the White Tiger and the film's two cats have a chase scene that should rouse even the most apathetic adults. Hearing Dinklage (of Game of Thrones fame) belt out a pirate shanty may be worth the price of admission alone.
With solid action (that doesn't need the 3D addition) cartoony animation and gags out the wazoo Ice Age: Continental Drift is entertainment to enjoy with the whole family. Revelatory? Not quite. Until we get a feature length silent film of Scratch's acorn pursuit we may never see a "classic" Ice Age film but Continental Drift keeps it together long enough to tell a simple story with delightful flare that should hold attention spans of any length. Massive amounts of sugar not even required.
[Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox]

Director Julie Taymor's Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark has been blighted by a series of recent setbacks and stunt double Christopher Tierney became the latest casualty of the show after taking a tumble from a platform above the stage on Monday (20Dec10). He suffered several broken ribs and internal bleeding after his safety cable snapped.
An investigation by officials at the Actors' Equity Association ruled the incident was due to "human error" on the stage crew's part.
But the shocking accident - the fourth since the show opened in September (10) - prompted Spider-Man producers to axe a planned performance on Wednesday afternoon in a bid to prevent further problems.
Show spokesman Rick Miramontez tells the New York Times the production will be safe enough to continue on Wednesday night after the new measures are put in place.
He says, "The production knows exactly what happened at Monday's performance, and it is being dealt with. This is a manoeuvre that has been done hundreds, if not a thousand times, without incident... It will never happen again."
Tierney is not the only person to be injured during the run - actress Natalie Mendoza suffered concussion on the first night of previews when a rope broke and hit her on the head, and another Spider-Man stuntman, Kevin Aubin, broke both wrists in a fall during rehearsals in October (10).

The beleaguered show, which features a soundtrack by U2 stars Bono and The Edge, has been blighted by delays amid rigorous safety checks for the production's aerial stunts.
The musical has also been dogged by injuries - actress Natalie Mendoza suffered concussion on the first night of previews when a rope broke and hit her on the head, and Spider-Man stuntman Kevin Aubin broke both wrists during rehearsals in October (10).
Another preview ended in disaster on Monday (20Dec10) when the show was cut short following a horrific accident, which saw stunt double Christopher Tierney tumble from a platform above the stage. He was hospitalised and diagnosed with several broken ribs.
Director Julie Taymor branded the accident "heartbreaking" but was "thankful" Tierney wasn't more seriously hurt, and an investigation has subsequently blamed the incident on "human error".
But Rent star Pascal is fuming over the latest injuries, and has called for Taymor to face legal action, according to the New York Post.
In a series of posts on Facebook.com, he writes, "They should be put Julie Taymor in jail for assault! I hope (Tierney) is ok and sues the s**t out of Julie, Bono, Edge and every other a**hole who invested in that steaming pile of actor crippling s**t!"
Tony Award-winning actress Alice Ripley also took to her Twitter.com page to air her views about the show's injury problems: "Does someone have to die? Where is the line for the decision makers, I am curious. Spider-Man should be ashamed of itself. This is completely unacceptable and embarrassing to working actors everywhere."
The musical's official opening is currently scheduled for February (11).

The beleaguered Broadway show Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark has been blighted by a series of setbacks - previews finally began in November (10) after months of problems and rigorous safety checks, but the opening show was halted throughout as stunts went wrong.
Producers then decided to push back the official opening until February (10) to incorporate "new ideas", but another preview on Monday (20Dec10) ended in disaster as the show was cut short following a horrific accident.
Stunt double Christopher Tierney was taken to New York's Bellevue Hospital for treatment after he tumbled from a platform above the stage. It was later revealed he had broken several ribs, with reports blaming the incident on snapped cables.
But following an investigation by the Actors' Equity Association, the real reason behind the accident was revealed to be an error on the stage crew's part.
A statement from the organisation reads, "Actors' Equity Association worked today with the Department of Labor, OSHA and the production to determine that the cause of the accident at last night's performance of Spiderman (sic) was, in fact, human error."
Tierney is the latest person to be injured during the run - actress Natalie Mendoza suffered concussion on the first night of previews when a rope broke and hit her on the head, and another Spider-Man stuntman, Kevin Aubin, broke both wrists during rehearsals in October (10).

Collateral Damage captured first place this weekend, inflicting about $15 million in box office damage.
It was, however, a far cry from a year ago when Hannibal bit off $58 million in ticket sales. Also driving this weekend were slimmer launches for Big Fat Liar with nearly $12 million and Rollerball with $9 million.
Although Hollywood faced competition this weekend from television coverage of the Olympics starting with Friday's opening ceremonies, most distributors felt it didn't hurt business as much as the lack of powerhouse new product did. Together, this weekend's top six films grossed about $57 million compared to the $58 million Hannibal did on its own last year.
Key films--those grossing $500,000 or more--did nearly $98 million, down nearly 20 percent from last year's $122.8 million. Business was up just over 2 percent from last weekend of this year when key films grossed $95.6 million.
THE TOP TEN
Warner Bros. and Bel-Air Entertainment's R rated terrorist action adventure Collateral Damage kicked off to a chart topping ESTIMATED $15.18 million at 2,824 theaters ($5,375 per theater).
Collateral had been set to opening last October, but its release was delayed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks amid concerns about how the public would react to a film about terrorism. Its first place opening now to a combative although not blockbuster sized gross of just over $15 million suggests Warners picked the right time to bring Collateral into the marketplace and that it took the right approach in its marketing. Given its story, the film could easily have wound up sitting on the shelf for many more months and having much less of a theatrical impact.
Collateral's average per theater was the highest for any film playing in wide release this weekend.
Directed by Andrew Davis, it stars Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"We had a terrific weekend," Warner Bros. Distribution president Dan Fellman said Sunday morning. "It's obviously good to be Number One. We had a solid box office accompanied by encouraging data. The exits were good. It drew mostly males. Sixty-two percent of the audience was male and of the four (demographic) quadrants, 39 percent were over 25 and 25 percent were females over 25. What was interesting was that women liked the movie as much as men did.
"We've got a holiday weekend coming up next week, so we'll get a little extra bump (in ticket sales over four days). Hopefully, we'll hang in there and based on the exits I think we probably have a good shot."
Applauding Collateral's marketing launch, Fellman emphasized that, "(Warner Bros. theatrical marketing president) Dawn Taubin and her marketing team did a great job in preparing the materials and opening the movie in the Number One position."
As for the Olympics' impact, Fellman said, "I think the Olympics definitely hurt everybody on Friday and a little bit on Saturday. You can just look at the numbers Friday night and see how much it dropped. The industry was 41 percent down last Friday on the 18 pictures that I tracked.
"It was not a great weekend. I think there's no question that we have a little bit of an Olympics situation there. But we'll make it up during the week. That seems to be what happens generally. I think that based on the tracking it looked like it was going to be a more competitive weekend for us."
Universal's PG rated family comedy Big Fat Liar opened with smiles in second place to an ESTIMATED $11.74 million at 2,531 theaters ($4,640 per theater).
Directed by Shawn Levy, it stars Frankie Muniz, Paul Giamatti and Amanda Bynes.
"We're very happy with our opening," Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco said Sunday morning. "The picture obviously has won over families as their choice for entertainment. The weekend business was really very good considering that overall everybody was concerned about the Olympics. It didn't deter people from going to the movies.
"The driving force of the picture was the fact that it offered comic and family entertainment. Frankie Muniz and Amanda Bynes are big TV stars and kids relate to that. Our exit polls were incredibly strong for our target audience, which is kids."
Asked what impact the Olympics had in general on the weekend, Rocco replied, "From what I can see, really not much. If you look at the drop from last year, it was driven by our own movie Hannibal (co-financed by Universal, which released it internationally, and MGM, which distributed it domestically) which opened to $58 million. But a $96 million weekend (this year) says that people are watching the Olympics, but they're doing it in their own time and it's not interfering with their out-of-the-home entertainment choices."
Liar should be nicely profitable for Universal, Rocco observed, because, "This picture was a very inexpensive film to make (and only cost) somewhere around $15 million. It's going to be a very profitable film for the studio, which is another reason why we're very excited."
MGM's PG-13 rated action adventure remake Rollerball debuted in third place to a low gear ESTIMATED $9.02 million at 2,762 theaters ($3,267 per theater).
Rollerball was originally set to open last fall. Its release was delayed to enable McTiernan to recut the picture and target it to 12- to 15-year-old boys.
Directed by John McTiernan, it stars Chris Klein and Jean Reno.
Revolution Studios and Jerry Bruckheimer Films' R rated drama Black Hawk Down slid three slots to fourth place in its seventh week of release via Columbia Pictures, still showing good legs with an ESTIMATED $8.0 million (-28%) at 2,964 theaters -179 theaters; $2,699 per theater). Its cume is approximately $86.7 million, heading for $115-125 million and quite possibly more in domestic theaters depending on how well it does in Tuesday's Oscar nominations.
Directed by Ridley Scott, it stars Josh Hartnett.
"I think it's a great position to be in with the Academy nominations coming Tuesday," Sony Pictures Entertainment worldwide marketing &amp; distribution president Jeff Blake said Sunday morning. "We should be in excess of $87 million by Tuesday. We have high hopes for some nominations to power us even further than what we've accomplished so far. I think the normal course would be probably to be at $100 million prior to the last weekend of the month or, at least, during the last weekend of the month, worst case scenario, and with a little luck on Tuesday maybe we'll even get there a little quicker."
What was the Olympics' effect on the weekend? "I think Friday was noticeably lower," Blake said. "I think Saturday looked better, but I think there's definitely some effect. But you never know for sure. Your best answer as to why a weekend is down is always first to look at the movie releases. Last year you had Hannibal opening to $58 million, which is the top six (films) combined this weekend. There's no question, I think, that the Olympics had some impact, but the surest bet is always to look at the movie competition first."
Buena Vista/Disney's PG rated family comedy Snow Dogs, fell four pegs to fifth place, starting to melt in its fifth week with an ESTIMATED $6.7 million (-34%) at 2,454 theaters (theater count unchanged; $2,741 per theater). Its cume is approximately $59.5 million, heading for $75 million or more.
Directed by Brian Levant, it stars Cuba Gooding Jr. and James Coburn.
Buena Vista/Touchstone and Spyglass Entertainment's PG-13 rated adventure The Count of Monte Cristo dropped two notches to sixth place in its third week with a less swashbuckling ESTIMATED $6.3 million (-27%) at 2,199 theaters (-12 theaters; $2,878 per theater). Its cume is approximately $32.2 million.
Directed by Kevin Reynolds, it stars James Caviezel, Guy Pearce and Richard Harris.
Universal, DreamWorks and Imagine Entertainment's PG-13 rated Oscar contender drama A Beautiful Mind, which was fifth last week, tied for seventh place in its eighth week with a still solid ESTIMATED $5.84 million (-31%) at 2,220 theaters (-30 theaters; $2,630 per theater). Its cume is approximately $112.8 million.
Directed by Ron Howard, the Brian Grazer production stars Russell Crowe, Ed Harris and Jennifer Connelly.
Warner Bros. and Pandora's PG rated youth appeal drama A Walk To Remember, which was third last week, was virtually tied for seventh place in its third week with a dull ESTIMATED $5.77 million (-35%) at 2,311 theaters (-109 theaters; $2,125 per theater). Its cume is approximately $30.5 million.
Directed by Adam Shankman, it stars Shane West and Mandy Moore.
Sony's Screen Gems and Lakeshore Entertainment's PG-13 supernatural thriller The Mothman Prophecies slipped three spots to ninth place in its third week with a less thrilling ESTIMATED $4.9 million (-33%) at 2,275 theaters (-56 theaters; $2,154 per theater). Its cume is approximately $28.0 million.
Mothman was reportedly made for $42 million by Lakeshore and picked up by Screen Gems for domestic release for about $15 million.
Directed by Mark Pellington, it stars Richard Gere and Laura Linney.
Rounding out the Top Ten was New Line Cinema's PG-13 rated drama I Am Sam in its seventh week, holding okay with an ESTIMATED $4.53 million (-28%) at 1,450 theaters (+147 theaters; $3,121 per theater). Its cume is approximately $23.7 million.
Directed by Jessie Nelson, it stars Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer.
"Sam's doing very well," New Line Distribution president David Tuckerman said Sunday. "We're very happy with Sam."
OTHER OPENINGS
This weekend also saw the arrival of Lot 47 Films' R rated comedy Scotland, PA to a bleak ESTIMATED $0.044 million at 17 theaters ($2,580 per theater).
Written and directed by Billy Morrisette, it stars James Le Gros, Maura Tierney and Christopher Walken.
SNEAK PREVIEWS
There were no national sneak previews this weekend.
EXPANSIONS
On the expansion front this weekend Lions Gate Films' R rated drama Monster's Ball, which has been generating an Oscar buzz, added theaters in its seventh week with a strong ESTIMATED $2.3 million at 341 theaters (+312 theaters; $6,745 per theater). Its cume is approximately $3.9 million.
Directed by Marc Forster, it stars Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger and Peter Boyle.
"We'll be adding about 150 theaters this coming week so we'll be up to about 500 screens," Lions Gate president Tom Ortenberg said Sunday morning.
USA Films' R rated whodunit Gosford Park, a likely Oscar contender, continued to widen in its seventh week with an okay ESTIMATED $1.73 million (-27%) at 837 theaters (+37 theaters; $2,070 per theater). Its cume is approximately $21.9 million.
Directed by Robert Altman and starring an extensive ensemble cast, it was written by Julian Fellowes and produced by Altman, Bob Balaban and David Levy.
Miramax's R rated Oscar contender drama In the Bedroom widened in its 12th week with a still hopeful ESTIMATED $1.65 million (-10%) at 737 theaters (+188 theaters; $2,238 per theater. Its cume is approximately $19.2 million.
Directed by Todd field, it stars Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, Nick Stahl and Marisa Tomei.
Universal's R rated fantasy thriller Brotherhood of the Wolf expanded in its fifth week to a slow ESTIMATED $1.15 million (-40%) at 405 theaters (+12 theaters; $2,835 per theater). Its cume is approximately $8.6 million.
Directed by Christopher Gans, it stars Samuel Le Bihan.
Miramax Zoe Films' R rated Oscar contending French comedy Amélie widened in its 15th week with a calm ESTIMATED $0.7 million (-10%) at 303 theaters (+30 theaters; $2,310 per theater. Its cume is approximately $24.6 million.
Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, it stars Audrey Tautou.
Fine Line's R rated drama Storytelling expanded in its second week to an unexciting ESTIMATED $0.14 million at 38 theaters (+33 theaters; $3,700 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.3 million.
Written and directed by Todd Solondz, it stars Selma Blair and Robert Wisdom.
Miramax's R rated romantic comedy Italian for Beginners widened in its fourth week to a still encouraging ESTIMATED $0.13 million (-7%) at 15 theaters (+1 theater; $8,800 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.5 million.
Directed by Lone Scherfig, it stars Anders Berthelsen.
TriStar's PG-13 rated Japanese animated feature Metropolis widened in its third week with a still lively ESTIMATED $0.064 million (-19%) at 13 theaters (+1 theater; $4,960 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.3 million.
Miramax's R rated drama The Son's Room widened in its third week with an okay ESTIMATED $0.046 million at 7 theaters (+2 theaters; $6,571 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.1 million.
Directed by Nanni Moretti, it stars Moretti and Laura Morante.
INTERNATIONAL
Universal's international division reported that Spy Game opened well in the Netherlands last Thursday, grossing in its first day $69,000 on 68 screens. The studio noted that the opening day's business was at the same level as The Peacemaker and only 8 percent less than The Fast and the Furious, putting Spy Game on track for a successful run in the Netherlands.
Spy Game is in its third weekend in Australia, where it placed fourth again with grossed $0.35 million on 191 screens. Its cume after 17 days is $2.6 million.
Universal, which has also released the film in Belgium and Switzerland, has an international total of $4.5 million for Spy Game. After a total of 12 weeks of international release, the film's cume via Universal and other distributors is now $60 million.
Long Time Dead in its fourth week in the U.K. grossed $80,000 on 81 screens. Its cume after 23 days is $2.4 million.
D-Tox opened in Mexico Friday, placing second to the second week of Ocean's Eleven. Universal said that with reports of grosses still coming in its weekend estimate for D-Tox is $0.3 million on 150 screens.
American Pie 2 placed sixth in Mexico in its fifth week. After 30 days in theaters, its cume is now an outstanding $5.0 million, which is already 14 percent
bigger than the original American Pie.
Pie 2, which is still playing in several countries, has an overall international cume of $137.3 million.
WEEKEND COMPARISONS
Key films--those grossing more than $500,000--took in approximately $97.79 million, down about 19.53 percent from last year when they totaled $122.77 million.
Key films were up approximately 2.29 percent from the previous weekend of this year when they grossed $95.57 million.
Last year, MGM's opening week of Hannibal was first with $58.0 million at 3,230 theaters ($17,958 per theater); and Sony's third week of The Wedding Planner was second with $7.7 million at 2,726 theaters ($2,828 per theater). The top two films one year ago grossed $65.7 million. This year, the top two films grossed an ESTIMATED $26.9 million.

In the early '70s scheming husband-and-wife lowlifes Mac and Pat McBeth work menial jobs at Duncan's Restaurant a popular greasy spoon in tiny Scotland Penn. Their boss Norm Duncan shares with them his idea to upgrade his eatery into a new-fangled operation that will allow patrons to drive up in their cars and order food. In a flash of rare inspiration the chronically stupid Mac suggests the even more efficient method of eliminating personnel by allowing customers to place orders themselves via intercom. Norm loves the idea but only rewards Mac with a nominal promotion to assistant manager. Furious Mac and Pat plot Norm's death and the takeover of Duncan's. The diabolical duo murder Norm by adding his head to the fries in a vat of boiling oil. With Norm's irresponsible sons immersed in other pastimes Mac and Pat successfully take control of the restaurant and turn it into a smashing fast food success. But complications ensue when Lt. Ernie McDuff investigates and restaurant employee Banco also Mac's good buddy becomes suspicious and turns against his friend. Although Mac and Pat thanks to their fast food success have traded their trailer park-like existence for a more upscale neighborhood justice lies just around the corner and threatens to tear it all away.
James LeGros and Maura Tierney (writer/director Billy Morrissette's real-life wife) are highly amusing as the wicked McBeths with LeGros handling hunky stupidity in an appealingly manly manner and Tierney oozing equal amounts of evil and lust. Christopher Walken as the gumshoe who hopes to crack the case is both '70s-style cool and utterly tacky. Kevin Corrigan registers as a dim-witted cipher who unexpectedly evolves into a dangerous nuisance and James Rebhorn is appropriately clueless as the hapless restaurateur.
Actor Billy Morrissette who makes his feature directorial debut here and also delivered the screenplay displays an assured knack for humor and a clear ability to entertain. His script is packed with shameless Shakespearean puns but the dialogue convinces in spite of the silliness. Morrissette also manages to reign in his over-the-top characters and situations so that they embody their own truths. Throughout Morrisette gives us delicious eye-candy with his attention to style as he his cinematographer and production designer deliver a hilarious send-up of the tacky '70s and the fast-food revolution. There are the clothes (wide collars were never wider) the kitschy decor (Naugahyde madness) the pop culture addictions (Yahtzee) and of course the rock 'n' roll. Until the last quarter of the film when momentum begins to sag Morrissette maintains a controlled canny grip on the droll goings-on.